Infinix S5 Pro review

Wrap-up

Our first Infinix review may be coming to a close, but the spark of curiosity has been ignited and we will keep an eye on the Infinix lineup for sure. The Hong Kong-based maker is a popular brand in Africa, but it is now making a push in India as well and it will be an interesting path to follow.

The S5 Pro is a beautiful smartphone that offers features few are ready to explore on an entry-level smartphone - a cutout-free high-res screen and a pop-up selfie camera. And because of this immersive viewing experience a lot of people will easily forgive the feeble hardware, the dated port, and the camera's shortcomings.

Alternatives

The Infinix S5 Pro is priced INR 9,999 in India even though it was expected to launch at INR 11,999. That's pretty great, but it's not without competition.

The Realme 5 is INR 1,000 cheaper and while it can't impress with a high-res notch-less screen, its gaming performance is far superior as is the quad-camera setup on the back. It also has a larger battery with even better endurance rating.

Then there is the Realme C3, which just like the Realme 5, comes with a 720p screen, but it also offers better performance, a larger battery, and it has a more meaningful macro camera on its back in addition to the primary snapper and the depth sensor. The Realme C3 is INR 2,000 cheaper than the Infinix.

Then there is the new Realme 6 with an impressive 90Hz 1080p screen with a punch-hole selfie camera. It has much better performance, a high-end quad-camera, a fast-charging battery, and Android 10 with clean Realme UI. All these goodies cost INR 3,000 over the Infinix S5 Pro.

The 64GB model of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 offers gaming-oriented chipset, a much better quad-camera setup on the back, faster charging, MIUI 11, and far better fingerprint reader. You can have these goodies, and more, at the expense of extra INR 2,000 and a small notch.

The Galaxy M30 by Samsung offers a 6.4" Super AMOLED screen with U-shaped notch and faster Exynos 7904 chip for just INR 1,000 over the S5 Pro. The M30 has a triple camera on the back with a proper ultrawide shooter, its battery is larger than the S5's, and Android 10 + One UI 2.0 is an excellent package worth experiencing. The 3GB+32GB version costs INR 10,999 though and if you want more - you need to pay more.

Realme 5 • Realme C3 (3 cameras) • Realme 6 • Samsung Galaxy M30 • Xiaomi Redmi Note 8

The Verdict

No other maker can offer you a notch-less screen that cheap and this may tip the scales towards the Infinix S5 Pro no matter what.

But it's not always about the screen - the whole package often matters more and Realme has quite a few phones that can rival and even beat the S5 pro. We guess costs pile up easily and the S5 Pro display panel has eaten most of the Infinix budget on this one, so it's up to you to decide which features matter more to you - the great viewing experience that the S5 Pro provides or having an all-round balanced smartphone.

Pros

• Large and notch-less screen with excellent contrast
• Eye-catchy design
• Great battery life
• Good day and night photos
• Android 10-based launcher

Cons

• Sluggish charging, dated microUSB port
• Low maximum screen brightness
• XOS 6 is filled with ads (can be disabled though)
• Only one of the three cameras is real
• Uninspiring selfies
• Mediocre performance means modern games are a no-go
• Unreliable FP reader accuracy